Page 25 of Five Stolen Rings
We finish up and then head out. Several minutesafter Benny has left, though, I’m still standing beneath the street lamp in the parking lot, looking up at the snow falling in thick flurries.
I just like snow—I always have. I like how quiet it is, how silent the world becomes; it’s a respite after a chaotic day, a stillness that grounds me and helps me breathe more deeply. I watch for a while, alone in my own little world, thoughts of Stella and Maude and my parents and the rings all swirling in my head like the falling snow.
This whole week has been a mistake. I’d forgotten how potent the Stella Effect is, the way she pulls me in without even trying—the way she turns her snobby little nose up so that I’m dying to take her down a few notches, but also the defiant vulnerability that appears when she’s trying to do better,bebetter. She looks at me with those doe eyes and justdaresme to tease her, to push her buttons, and I fall for it every time.
But no more; no longer.
I trudge to my car and get in, not bothering to brush the snow off my clothes or out of my hair. I’m just starting the engine when my phone pings, despite the late hour, and despite not being on call; I frown and pull it out of my coat pocket.
It’s Stella. She’sPrincessin my phone now, and she’s sent me a photo with a message. I open the picture to find a view very similar to the one I was just looking at: a gray sky, low-hanging clouds, and snow, visible by the light of a street lamp.
The message is only seven words.
Princess
Another peace offering, because you like snow
That’s…strangely kind.
Or so I think, until another message comes through.
Princess
It’s the same temperature as your heart
That’s more like it.
I don’t let myself smile. I don’t even let myself respond. I just put my phone back in my coat pocket.
But as much as I try to deny it to myself, the corners of my lips twitch.
The next day ticks by with no word from Stella, and I find myself wavering in my plans. Christmas is in eight days; Maude returns in seven from her tropical vacation. Stella asked me not to take the stolen rings while she’s house-sitting, but…when else will I be able to? It’s going to be a lot harder to get my mother’s rings when Maude is around.
So finally, two days after our encounter at her parents’ market, I text the woman I’m absolutely not going to fall in love with. Asking permission to come to my stepmother’s house would set a bad precedent, so I don’t; I inform her instead.
Me
I’m coming over tonight to look for the rings.
Princess
Excellent
You can help me put up Christmas lights
And also you can feed the birds because I really think they’re plotting against me
I can FEEL it
Me
I’m not going to do all the things you’re getting paid to do.
Princess
I’m not asking you to! Please just feed the birds
They freak me out.
